Guacamelee Developer DrinkBox Studios Unveils Its Next Game, Severed

DrinkBox Studios, the Toronto-based indie studio behind Mutant Blobs Attack and Guacamelee!, has unveiled its latest game, Severed. While it certainly has a similar aesthetic styling to Guacamelee!, the gameplay is quite different. Severed is a first-person dungeon crawler set in a "mysterious highly stylized surreal world." The game gets its name because the heroine of the story has her arm severed and you'll gain new powers by severing the body parts of enemies and attaching them to yourself. DrinkBox is calling it a cross between Mega Man, Infinity Blade, and Mike Tyson's Punch-Out, while there's also a dose of The Legend of Zelda thrown into the mix as well.

While the influence of Mega Man is apparent with the limb-attachment, Severed also takes a Mega Man-like approach to its open-ended world design, allowing players to explore any area they want from the start. Like Mega Man, you can go down one path to try and aquire one piece of gear that will help you in another area, but if that path proves too difficult, you can switch to a different area with hopefully better results. The Infinity Blade influence comes in the form of the combat, which is first-person, gesture-based swipe attacks – yes, Severed is first and foremost designed for touchscreens. The Punch-Out influence comes from how all the enemies require different strategies and have different tells, while The Legend of Zelda influence comes in the form of how magic spells are used along with physical attacks, while also doubling as an exploration tool, such as unlocking doors.

Severed is planned for a Spring 2015 release, but the platforms have not been determined yet. Mobile devices are a given due to its touchscreen interface, while the PlayStation Vita, 3DS, and Wii U are all strong possibilities. Drinkbox will also be testing to see if the gestures can be translated to non-touch devices, including PlayStation Move, Kinect, and Project Morpheus. Drinkbox expects a roughly eight-hour experience, though it's too early to tell. Due to the non-linear, open-ended nature of the game, there should be decent replayability regardless. As the trailer above and concept screens below show, Severed may be quite the visual spectacle.

If you're curious, the music in the trailer and the original soundtrack for the game is "from Juno nominated band YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN and kulintang ensemble Pantayo."